NY poll: Obama ahead of potential GOP challengers

A new poll of New York voters finds President Barack Obama with big leads over potential Republican challengers.

The Siena College poll found 48 percent of New York voters said they would re-elect Obama and 45 percent would prefer someone else.

Respondents also said they would vote for Obama over Republicans Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. Respondents favored Obama over Perry 58 percent to 31 percent. They favored Obama over Romney 55 percent to 37 percent.

New York is a heavily Democratic state that has not voted for a Republican for president since 1984.

Siena called 800 registered voters in New York state on Oct. 10-12. The poll has a 3.5 percentage point margin of error.